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2/21/2007

Simplicity


The sun is shining down on me this Ash Wednesday, literally and metaphorically. Sunlight is flooding the courtyard outside and look what I found here (thanks to Port2Port). Letterpress galore! Johnny better hide the check card or else we may be living in one of these houses instead of our upcoming casa. I did purchase a birthday card for my brother, but since I also ordered this book today, one card needs to suffice.

Jokes about diminutive houses aside, I admit to watching Oprah yesterday which was inspiring (for once) since she featured how to decorate small spaces and live simply. The man who founded the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company was actually enlightening. He seemed completely content and serene. I do not believe I am strong enough to live daily with a compost toilet and so few bookshelves, but I was reminded that the simpler our spaces and souls, more joyful we will be.

And so I am trying today, this first day of Lent, to be simple. To look past our paint-chipped walls, ancient apartment appliances, loud renovations in the works outside (again), and look out the window to sunshine. Revel in the waiting: for a house, for children, and of Lent. Listen to the wind chime. Thank God (again) for the opportunity to write at home vs. customer service. Enjoy my new desk arrangement a la Jenni-fun-shui (pictures soon) and black-framed bulletin board on which I just hung a necklace. Swim in God's mercy. Drink more Chamomile Citrus tea and partake of one more shortbread cookie. Kiss both cats' fragrant fur while they are blinking, groggy from sleep, and listen to Lucinda.

The XS-House model (with the cedar siding option, not metal) could be a fun vacation home tacked to our Honda Element for a trip to mountains, or a writing refuge if we had a big backyard. There is something quite charming and peaceful about those little houses.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jenni, how nice it would be to have one of those little houses as a vaction dwelling on a river somewhere. To be able to go there when life seems stressful and to listen to the river, drink some hot coffee or tea and bask in the glory that surrounds you. Hopefully someday that'll be a dream recognized.

allison said...

That's adorable! If I had one of those I'd just spend my time driving around with it behind my vehicle making people smile. Why is everything so much more inviting when it's tiny? Why does it kick the imagination into high gear? Think of anything in the world, the most repulsive thing, and then think of it really little small and now it's cute. If only we could shrink the whole world...

Christine said...

I've seen those little houses! I want one too :) Who needs tons of space?

By the way, I'm not sure if you have cable but you have GOT to check out the show Get Fresh With Sara Snow on Discovery Health. All about "green" living - Sara is the daughter of the guy who started Eden Foods!